Colonial Pipeline Donates Truck And Equipment To Lee County Fire Department

by Alexandria Ikomoni, WFXL-FOX

LEE COUNTY, Ga. - Firefighters in Lee County have some new and improved ways to help save lives after getting new equipment.

On Wednesday morning, Lee County Public Safety received $10,500 grant from the Colonial Pipeline Company for gas monitoring equipment.

“It’s a life safety issue with gases,” Interim Fire Chief David Forrester said. ​“A lot of the gases do not have an odor, so you don’t know they’re present. You can actually die from inhaling the gases. It protects the firefighters.”

Six monitors were purchased for each truck in the county to have one. The monitor can identity the gas before going into the environment, and it can also detect gas leaks in holes to help protect the community.

The previous equipment used could only detect one gas, but the new monitors can detect four different deadly gases.

That isn’t the only new equipment that has been purchased, but firefighters have bought their first new rescue truck in 13 years with SPLOST funds.

“It’s very important for public safety,” Forrester said. ​“Without SPLOST to fund some of these projects, it would be impossible to have [new trucks].”

The truck was brought in three weeks ago, and the department is currently working on getting the proper equipment installed.

This truck is bigger than the previous rescue truck, and it carries more equipment than the other could, including high-angle rescue equipment.